Gordon Turner

In 1944, my dad, Gordon Turner, who has died aged 90, played a vital role in Operation Halyard, the largest allied airlift behind enemy lines of the second world war - though it was not until 2000 when I tracked down some of the survivors that he realised the extent of his role.

He was serving in Italy as chief signals officer for RAF 205 Group when he passed an intercepted message to the 15th US air force, which, once deciphered, proved to be a call for help from downed bomber crews being sheltered by the resistance in Nazi-occupied Serbia. A team from the Office of Strategic Services was sent to Yugoslavia to build a mountain landing strip for transport planes to rescue 500 stranded airmen.

A letter of commendation from Maj Gen Nathan Twining, commanding officer of the 15th US air force, said: "The technical knowledge displayed by Squadron Leader Turner, together with his enthusiastic cooperation, contributed greatly to the success of a recent mass evacuation of allied airmen from enemy occupied territory."

Born in Peckham, south-east London, Gordon was recruited by the BBC after serving an electrical apprenticeship, and gained his higher national certificate in electrical engineering. In January 1939 he was offered a job at the Empire transmitting station at Daventry, Northamptonshire. When war broke out he trained at the Electronics and Wireless school, Cranwell, Lincolnshire, and went on to reach the rank of wing commander.

After the war he returned to Daventry, married my mother, Ivy Martin, and returned to the BBC, where he remained until retirement in 1977, by which time he was acting engineer in charge. After becoming a Christian in 1949, his main passion was church work. Following ultimately unsatisfying spells with the Congregationalists, Baptists and the Brethren, he started the non-denominational Daventry Christian Assembly, then the only evangelical church in the town, where he became the senior elder, preaching on a regular basis and teaching at Sunday school. Next year, it will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Gordon was a supporter of many missionary organisations, the proud owner of more than 2,000 theological books, and regularly visited the sick, blind, elderly and lonely. He is survived by Ivy, four children - myself, Sue, Mark and Nina - and eight grandchildren.